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Urban Studies News

"Russians have come to depend on their belief in Putin as much as he depends on their support. Instead of serving as a source of stability, as it did in the past, this mutual dependence is driving Russia toward political and economic isolation – with serious consequences for ordinary Russians’ livelihoods," writes Maxim Trudolyubov.

"Emerging during periods of profound economic change, these art forms (kabuki and Go Go) were products of the social vacuum left by conflicts over power. They expressed the frustrations and struggles of social groups that were on the losing end of those skirmishes; and they did so in ways that were unvarnished and potent," writes Blair Ruble.

In the midst of anti-government protests and civil unrest that swept throughout Turkey in summer of 2013, former Wilson Center Scholar Susan C. Pearce witnessed first-hand a major milestone in Turkey’s LGBT community as estimates of 100,000 people gathered for the annual Istanbul LGBT pride parade.

The military offensive under way in North Waziristan has triggered a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Many are staying in refugee camps in KP. However, if history is any guide, scores will eventually end up in Pakistani cities.

"Cities around the world have become agglomerations of ethnicities, religions, classes, and nationalities. Creating socially sustainable cities that can accommodate migrants and their diversity requires policies that nurture shared identity and maintain spaces whose use can be shared by everybody, promoting a pragmatic pluralism and a culture of tolerance," writes Blair Ruble.

Pakistan is South Asia’s most rapidly urbanizing country. In barely 10 years, nearly 50 percent of its 180 million people will live in cities (a third do today). This new publication discusses the drivers of Pakistan’s urbanization, and examines the country’s major urban challenges.

Former Wilson Center Fellow and Michigan State sociologist Xuefei Ren recently published the book about urbanization in China that she worked on while with our program in 2011-2012. We are pleased to share the positive review of her Urban China recently appearing in the London School of Economics and Political Science Review of Books

Following the collapse of communist systems in East Europe, cities and nations confronted the task of introducing markets and democratically accountable political systems. In other words, they needed to establish economic and governing mechanisms empowering individuals. They needed, as a popular metaphor of the time expressed the challenge, “to make an aquarium out of fish stew.”